Inside Crown Court: Personal experiences and questions of legitimacy

Description

With a new Foreword by David Ormerod of the Law Commission. Using up-to-date ethnographic research, this timely book provides a vivid description of what it is like to attend court as a victim, a witness or a defendant; the interplay between the different players in the courtroom; and the extent to which the court process is viewed as legitimate by those involved in it. This valuable addition to the field brings to life the range of issues involved and is aimed at students and scholars of criminal justice, policy-makers and practitioners, and interested members of the general public.

About Author

Jessica Jacobson is Co-Director of the Institute for Criminal Policy Research (ICPR), Birkbeck, University of London, where Gillian Hunter is a Senior Research Fellow and Amy Kirby is a Research Fellow.

Contents

Foreword: David Ormerod, Law Commission; Introduction; The system: what is the Crown Court and what are its functions?; Court process and performance: constructing versions of `the truth'; Them and us: the divide between court users and professionals; Structured mayhem: the organised yet chaotic nature of court proceedings; Reluctant conformity: court users' compliance with the court process; Legitimacy: court users' perceived obligation to obey, and what this is based on; Conclusion.